JCB sees role for hydrogen

21 September 2023

In the wake of Rishi Sunak’s shift on Net Zero policies announced yesterday, JCB has welcomed the opportunity “to have a better, more honest debate” about reaching Net Zero by 2050.

As previously covered on the blog, the company has converted an internal combustion engine to run on hydrogen and believes that a discussion is needed on how the country plans for practical and affordable alternatives to fossil fuels, alongside battery-electric technology.

While smaller JCB machines are already powered by battery technology the manufacturer says that its larger models will be powered by hydrogen which produces zero CO2. 

Chairman Lord Bamford said: “Hydrogen combustion technology is both practical and affordable, and if it were adopted more rapidly as a pragmatic alternative to fossil fuels, it would accelerate the decarbonisation of the construction industry and agriculture, allowing us to reach Net Zero targets more quickly. 

“Hydrogen also has the potential to accelerate the decarbonisation of other industry sectors, such as automotive, steel-making, ceramics and shipping. It’s a technology that is not inflationary and it should feature more strongly in our country’s Net Zero plans.”